bianca
People, for some stupid reason, think they can escape their sorrows.
The author does have a way with words, but I didn't like this as much as I thought I would. The main character was too judgmental for my taste, and I don't think there was even one character that I liked. It felt overdramatic too especially towards the end. The romance all felt so cheesy if not pretentious, and very angsty too. It didn't help that it was an instalove romance. Maybe I would've loved this if I read this at least 5 years ago
A fun, feminist, sex-positive story set in the 70s, about the beginnings of a girls' soccer team. This was okay, I'm just not a fan of some parts in the story.
This had an interesting premise where people who turn eighteen have a choice to resurrect someone who died. The plot was so boring though + no character development (those last-minute “developments” don't count). And then an unthinkable instalove happened too
My eyes let me see incredibly beautiful things, but sometimes I think that what I see gets in the way of what's...what's just beyond the beauty. Almost like the beauty I can see is just a very lovely curtain, distracting me from what's on the other side...and if I just knew how to push that curtain aside, there the music would be.
You know something, I'd hate to be as smart as him. I mean he was really, really smart and to be that smart means you know all the answers and when you know all the answers there's no room for dreaming.
— How could [a:Melina Marchetta|47104|Melina Marchetta|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1277655889p2/47104.jpg]'s “weakest” book be so beautiful? She just blows me away with her writing every single time.
Love is a pie. It's something you put your whole heart into. You stand on his doorstep and you offer him this pie that you have baked tenderly, and he picks at the crust, maybe takes a bite, then he gives you back the pie and says, “I don't like this pie. I don't want your pie.” And you're left with a pie that will never be perfect again. The next time you offer your pie to someone, they know someone else has already taken a bite. Maybe all the filling is gone and you only have soggy pastry to offer. In return, all you get is someone else's half-eaten pie because that's all you deserve when that's all you have to trade. Or you get someone else's perfect pie but, by then, you're partial to half-eaten pie, so you fuck up their pie and move on. First love is a show pie. Every love after it is a reheated delicatessen pie and it tastes like shit, because you remember what first pie tastes like and it'll never be the same again. So, now you've learned to protect your pie and you'll never make the mistake of holding it out with both hands again—now you'll offer your half-eaten pie with one hand, while the other hand will stay behind your back, holding a fork.
— A great coming-of-age story about finding hope in a world that's trapping you in, and how facing things instead of running away is what it means to truly escape.
Something large and happy has unfolded in my chest, erupting in a smile that won't quit. I can't remember ever feeling so light-hearted. Or is my heart full? Or bursting? Not aching, that's for sure.
— About teenage struggles and learning to believe beyond what we think we are capable of. Loved the characters and the quirky writing.
All those people who are chained here thinking that their reputations matter and that this little shit matters are so freaking shortsighted. Dude, what matters is if you're happy. What matters is your future. What matters is that we get out of here in one piece. What matters is finding the truth of our own lives, not caring about what other people think is the truth of us!
— Sending my love to this book for a moving portrayal of questioning one's sexuality while also struggling to break free of society's boxes and definitions. It's not the most original story, but the writer has turned it into really something special.
— hmmm I don't know. It was touching, but I just couldn't connect that much with the story and the main character.
And yet for all my happiness at seeing him happy and secure in who he was, there was something terribly painful about it too. What I would not have given to be that young at this time and to be able to experience such unashamed honesty.
Laugh-out-loud funny and quietly heartbreaking, a story about the life of one gay man from birth to old age as he grapples with his identity while struggling to live in a world full of bigotry. So witty while being so incredibly moving too. What a book! ❤️
I know how easy it is to believe you're doing the right thing if you say it to yourself often enough.
I guess its strongest point is the diversity, but I didn't find anything special about this to warrant more stars. This felt very flat. Little character development and plot development, and then poof! it was already the last page. This could've been great though.
The Tates. They would look at me and this would all be over, and it scared the hell out of me.Because, of course, I wasn't Daniel Tate.
A gripping mystery thriller about a con artist posing as the missing son of a wealthy family
An exploration of call-out culture. I like what it's trying to discuss, but it feels lacking. I wish there's more perspective to this instead of one-sidedly discussing the toxicity of the culture... to also look at how it can actually reinforce social movements. And I like to think that people can be given 2nd chances especially after being educated about the subject matter, but to what extent? Because I think some things are just unacceptable and unforgivable. Should we be humanizing every “victim” of call-out culture? I don't think so.
We erase events from our lives, experiences that do not fit in with the storeys we tell ourselves. Still, there are some memories that hover on the periphery. They reach out to you from another time and transform a moment of joy into one of shame. From then on these recollections stay with you. They linger on the edge of your vision and say, “Look at what you are.”
Inspired by a true crime, a mystery/romance about a woman digging into her mother's past with the wakaresaseya (a professional agent specializing in breaking up relationships) hired by her father to seduce her mother to gain leverage in divorce proceedings. I liked the mystery, the romance development not so much. But I liked the way this explored that thin line between passionate love and obsessive love. As the author said in the acknowledgments, it's about “how we love, and what we are capable of doing to each other for love.”
They're too scared that their gut is wrong and the boy is right. Because we trust boys. We trust them when they say they love us. We trust their instincts and their motives, and they're never as silly as us, are they? They are logical and reasonable and don't let feeble emotions get in the way of things. Who are you going to trust? The calm boy whose voice doesn't wobble, who can explain reasonably, and using examples, why everything is fine – or the crying girl saying she can feel something is wrong?
To all the red flags you've loved (and suffered emotional abuse from) before
Being brave isn't the same as being unafraid. Admitting that something scares you and facing it anyway, that's being brave.
— A coming-of-age book about wanting to escape our roots and figuring out who we want to be. This is a good book, I just couldn't fully connect with the characters (it's not the book, it's me).
Tomorrows and tomorrows and tomorrows, and who knew what was in store for any of us? What I did know—maybe all I knew—is that we got to play a role in deciding.
— Dark and suspenseful. I liked how it wasn't just a mystery book, but a coming-of-age one as well. I liked the story and the characterizations. My only issue was the pacing.
“The best is when you're with someone who's comfortable with silence, but doesn't make you feel lonely.””You feel lonely sometimes?”Always, she wants to say. Worse is when she feels lonely in the company of others.
— Loved both short stories, but it was [a:Melina Marchetta|47104|Melina Marchetta|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1277655889p2/47104.jpg]'s story that really got me. She wrote such a beautiful story in less than 20 pages. How does she do that?
I thought about loneliness. How it's not something you catch and mostly we choose it. How a trouble shared is a trouble halved but things like love and joy are multiplied when you have someone to share them with. I looked out of the window. On the street below there were hundreds of people—thousands, maybe—going about their business without touching, speaking, or acknowledging each other's existence.
— A story of identity and belonging, of learning what makes a family, and discovering what makes us who we are: our memories, stories, and choices. It's a raw and beautiful book, but I just couldn't give it 5 stars.
2019 Popsugar Reading Challenge
24. A book inspired by mythology, legend, or folklore
The women always get blamed. Have you noticed that? The wives are nags. The mistress is a bitch for betraying the sisterhood. And the men just fall through the cracks in between. We expect so little from our boys, don't we?
Now open your eyes and look at me. I feel everything that you feel. I always have, and I know that now. And it is time to stop hurting.
— What a cute and swoony read! And I loved how the two main characters had only eyes for each other all throughout, no love triangle drama and all that.
My gaze flew up to his, and seriously, when did he get those flecks of green in his eyes? His bound hand tightened on mine a little before he pulled me closer, his other hand coming up to cup my cheek. He barely touched my skin, but I repressed a shiver anyway. One eyebrow arched in a challenge as he bent toward me. Daring me to deny him, to break character and not let him kiss me.
Squee. What a charming and heart-fluttering read!